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(N l.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. HALLETT.

. COIN OPERATED LOOKING MECHANISM. No. 451,556. Patented May 5,1891.

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(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. B. HALLETT.

COIN OPERATED LOOKING MECHANISM. No. 451,556. Patented May 5,1891.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

B.HALLETT. COIN OPERATED LOOKING MECHANISM.

No. 451,556. Patented May 5, 1891.

$6 0/ M Wmm- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERTIE HALLETT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

COIN-OPERATED LOCKING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,556, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed July 3, 1889. 8erial No. 316,480. (No model.) Patented in England July 5, 1888, No. 9,802, and November 3, 1888,No. 15,917 in I'raneeNovember 21,1888,N0.194=.489; in Germany December 22, 1888,1T0. 48,505, and September 20,

1889, No. 52,917, and in Canada July 8, 1889, No. 31,983.

To aZl whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BERTIE HALLETT, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. 61 Charlotte Street, Portland Place, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented certain new and Improved Coin-Operated Locking Mechanism, (for which I have obtained the following Letters Patent, viz: Great Britain, Nos. 9,802, July 5, 1888, and 15,917, November 3,1888; France, No. 194,489, November 21, 1888; Germany, Nos. 48,505, December 22, 1888, and 52,917, September 20, 1889, and Canada, No. 31,983, July 8, 1889,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improved coin-operated lockin g mechanism for controlling the public use of seals, doors, lids, and the like by way of locking them against their being used, the locking mechanism being adapted for release by pressure brought to bear upon a member of it through the coin previously introduced into the said mechanism by the intending user.

In order that my invention and the means by which the same are to be carried into practical effect may be thoroughly understood, I will now proceed to describe them in detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying figures, which are to be taken as part of this specification and read therewith.

Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the application of my invention to a public seat-e. 1., a park-chair. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the improved locking. and releasing mechanism. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of parts in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation illustrating a modified construction of rocking lever and curtain. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of a modified form of my invention. Fig. 6 is arear elevation of corresponding parts. Fig. 7 is a view of the side plate and coin-rest.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the two former show the chair-seat A as pivoted or hinged to the frame A, on part of whichviz., one side the case B, containing the locking and releasing mechanism, is fixed. The latter figure illustrates the locking and releasing mechanism in detail.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the seat as fast to arod a, one end of which is continued into the interior of B, the case which contains the looking and releasing mechanism. A returningspring Z) is provided under the chair-seat for the purpose of raising the seat after it has been used. A counterpoise may be substituted for a spring.

0 is the money-slit; d, the intending users coin; e, a coin-guide, and F a cranked locking-lever having its fulcrum at f. The short end of this lever furnishes a seat for the coin d and has a projection g formed upon it immediately in front of the said seat. His a ratchet-wheel fast upon the pivot a. The lever F has a tooth t, which is kept in contact with the wheel by the spring j, and has also a stud K on its side.

L is a rocking lever havingits fulcrum at Z. Its opposite end engages with a curtain m, at tached to the coin-guide c. It will be ob served from an examination of Fig. 2 that the engagement of the lever L with the curtain on is a self-adjusting one-that is to say, there is a notch in the top of the lever L, into which notch the adj acentand bent-down nose of the curtain m enters. The notch is larger than the said nose, and is wider at its bottom than at its top, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the operative connection between the said lever L and the said nose of the curtain mis self-adj usting during the motion of the top of the lever L in either direction about its axis. I

N is an eccentric fast upon the end of the rod to in a position proper for engaging with the surfaces of a cavity in the lever L for the purpose of moving it to and fro about its fulcrum.

O is a steadying-pin projecting from the lever L and adapted to the purpose of steadying the coin on its seat. 1 is a stud upon the said lever, so positioned that the stud K shall rise over it for a certain distance and rest upon it when the seatis down, for the purpose of holding the toothi clear of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

The operation of myinvention constructed as above described is as follows: The seat A being held closed against the intending user by the returning-spring bin the position indicated by the full lines in Fig. 2, a coin of the proper diameteris dropped into'the coin-slit C. The coin will drop down the guide 2 onto its IOO.

seat, upon which it will restbetwecn the stead ying-pin O and the projection g, its top being embraced by the top of the guide. The seat is next pulled forward, when the eccentric N on the same pivot as the seat throws the lever L to the front, causing the latter to move the curtain m and the coin-guide 6 forward, by which motion pressure is brought to bear through the coin (Z upon the projection g, with the result that the lever F is moved on its fulcrum against the pull of the springj and the tooth t lifted away from the ratchet. The seat can then be pulled down into a horizontal position. The full lines of Figs. 2 and 3 show the relative positions of the several parts of the mechanism when the seat is up, and the dotted lines of Fig. 2 show the relative positions when the seat is down. \Vhen the curtain is moved forward, as above described, it closes the coin slit, thereby preventing the insertion of a second coin while the seat is down. The bottom of the case B serves as a till, the size of which may be determined by experience. Access to the till is provided for by a suitable lockingdoor.

Referring to Fig. l, which illustrates the relative positions of the several parts of the mechanism when the seat is down, the connection between the curtain on. and the lever L is therein illustrated as a rigid instead of a self-adjusting one, as is that illustrated in Fig. 2 and as described above with reference thereto. This rigidity of connection necessitates both curtain and case-top being areshaped, the respective arcs being struck from the axis of the lever L as a center.

The operation of the mechanism is the same as described with reference to Figs. 2 and Referring to the modification illustrated in Figs. 5, 6,and 7, the quadrant R has two project-ions r 0' formed upon it. These projections produce a recess adapted to receive the coin (I when it drops from the coin-slit C. \V is a bracket upon the inside face of the case side B adapted to serve as a seat for the coin when it is between the projections 1' 1', as shown by Fig. (3.

X is a pawl pivoted on the screw-pin a1, and Y is its tooth. The tooth is adapted to engage in the top of the coin-recess under the action of the spring .t. This coin-recess is the space between the two projections 1 w".

The pawl X has an extension y, making a right angle with it and projecting from it parallel with the coin-recess. The underneath edge has two subsidiary extensions r 1" depending from it. These two extensions are equidistant from a vertical diameter of the coin when the latter is on its seat, as will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 6. One of them may be on1itted,but I prefer that there should be a pair.

The coin (Z- must be of the proper diameter '1'. 6 ,large enough when it is on its seat to project above the coixrrecess and not too large to just pass under the extensions 2-.

The operation of the last-described modification is follows: So long as the seat is up 1'. (2., in the position illustrated in Fig. 5-the coin-recess stands under the coin-slit (J and the tooth Y in front of it. If the seat be now pulled forward without there being a coin of theproper diameterinthecoin-recess,the tooth will be forced into the top of the coin-recess; but if a coin be in the position illustrated in Fig. 6 it will be pulled under the extensions 1" and support the paw1,so keeping the tooth Y out of the coin-recess until the latter has passed the said tooth.

The accompanyingfigures illustrate theapplication of my invention to a flap the axis of which is horizontal. In applying it to a door the axis of which is vertical the necessary modifications will be confined t0 the position of the coin chute and guide and the shape of the lever to enableit to connect with the slide; or instead of modifying the arrangement of the mechanism,asindicated, the axis of the door may be connected with that of the pivot to by a pair of miter-wheels.

I wish it to be distinctly understood that my invention is not confined to the one application illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described therewithviz., to the control of a chair-seat-but is equally applicable to the control of a door, lid, or flap of any kind adapted to move about an axis, if it is required that the several motions of such door, lid, or flap shallbe consequent upon the prior introduction of a coin or its equivalent into a private receptacle containing the mechanism which is the subject of my invention.

1. In coin -opcrated locking mechanism, the combination of a seat adapted to move through an are, a quadrant fixed to the said seat, a coin-recess formed in said quadrant, coin-slit, seat for the coin, and a pawl adapted to automatically engage in the said coin-recess if the latter is pulled up to it without containing a coin of the proper diameter, the said pawl having an extension upon its under side, by which it can be raised by the coin when the latter is pulled against it, as set forth. v

2. In coin-operated locking mechanism, the combination of a chair-seatmoving about an axis outside itself, a quadrantlixed thereto and adapted to work backward and forward in a closed case, a coin-slit in the said quadrant, a coin-shelf adapted to support a coin in the said coin-recess, a pawl having a tooth adapted to engage in the coin-recess when the seat is pulled forward, and also an extension adapted to rest upon the top of the coin as the said tooth moves over the coin-recess.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Slst day of August, 1888.

.H. IIALLE'IT. \Vitnesses:

HENRY 1[. Lawn, 22 Southampton Buildings, London, IV. C.

WALTER J. SKER'IEN, 17 Graccchurch Street, London, E. O. 

